Teen killed in Durham accident

DURHAM -- A Meriden teenager was killed and three others injured late Saturday night near the Durham Fairgrounds after being hit by a teen driver in a sport utility vehicle.

AMY L. ZITKA

Published
12:00 am EDT, Monday, September 30, 2002

State police are continuing to investigate the crash, which claimed the life of 15-year-old Jason Gelinas of Meriden, and injured the other 15-year-olds who were walking along Route 17, State Police spokesman Sgt. J. Paul Vance said.

The accident happened less than an hour after the 86th annual Durham Fair had closed for the night. It was unclear whether they were coming from the fair, he said.

Marcy Jarzabek, 16, of Portland, was driving a GMC Suburban south on Route 17 in the area of Strong Middle School and the Pickett Lane intersection, state police said. Shortly before midnight, Jarzabek's SUV drifted off the right side of the road into a group of five people.

Gelinas was taken by Life Star helicopter to Yale-New Haven Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The other Meriden teens -- Lisa Shea, Ryan Terrenzi and Faith Suzio -- suffered relatively minor injuries, police said. The three were treated at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown and Midstate Medical Center in Meriden, Vance said. A fifth teenager escaped injury.

"It's truly a tragedy," Vance said. "The people involved are all young, and we are certainly going to do everything in our power to determine what happened."

Members of the State Police Accident Reconstruction Team and Troop F in Westbrook are handling the investigation, he said.

"There were witnesses," Vance said, adding troopers are talking with them, the victims and driver. "It will be a long, in-depth investigation. A lot of work needs to be done."

In the preliminary investigation, it does not appear that alcohol or drugs were a factor in the accident, Vance said. No charges had been filed as of Sunday night.

The Durham Fair is billed as the state's largest agricultural fair. More than 221,000 people attended the three-day event last year, according to the Durham Fair Web site. Around 105,000 had attended the fair on Saturday, Durham Fair Association officials said.